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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25194049">WPaRG Intermission: Ginger and Rocky</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/chelonianmobile/pseuds/chelonianmobile'>chelonianmobile</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MultiFanGirlWickedPony/pseuds/MultiFanGirlWickedPony'>MultiFanGirlWickedPony</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writearoundchic/pseuds/Writearoundchic'>Writearoundchic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>WPaRG [21]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Chicken Run (2000), Disney - All Media Types, Looney Tunes | Merrie Melodies, Penguins of Madagascar, The Road to El Dorado (2000)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Forced Prostitution, Human Trafficking, Multi, Murder, No Smut</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:02:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,730</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25194049</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/chelonianmobile/pseuds/chelonianmobile, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MultiFanGirlWickedPony/pseuds/MultiFanGirlWickedPony, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writearoundchic/pseuds/Writearoundchic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>How Ginger and Rocky got to where they are, with assistance from Tulio.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>WPaRG [21]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1665667</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>How long had he been here?</em>
</p><p>He didn’t know, he really didn’t know. There were no windows, no clocks. Just artificial lighting and people and smells, so many smells. He pulled his knees up to his chest and set down his head. There had been men, yes, men he tried to desperately pretend were Miguel. Women he had desperately tried to pretend were Chel. But it was no use. The stench of sex… from multiple sources… clung to him, just as it clung to everyone else.</p><p>He was trying to sleep now. He had no idea what the hell the time actually was, probably the middle of the goddamn day, but he was exhausted, and cold, and he wanted to escape the pain, just for a moment. He lay down, curled into a ball, screwed his eyes shut and just focused on his breathing. Maybe… maybe he would dream of Miguel, or Chel, or both of them. God, he hoped they had left this sort of hell hole.</p><p>“Hey! Let me go! Let me <em>go</em>!”</p><p>His hope for sleep was soon interrupted by the cry of a girl. He awoke then. The girl in question had her hands tied behind her back and was getting dragged towards him by two much larger men, but she was kicking and screaming and putting up as much of a fuss as possible. She had a fighting spirit, he gave her that much.</p><p>“Oh, shut up, will you?” one of the dragging men said.</p><p>“No! You let me go!”</p><p>The girl was soon tossed next to him. Next thing Tulio knew, her ankles were chained, connecting her to him. The men then left.</p><p>“Hey! Aren’t you gonna untie my hands?! Come on, please, I have a certain gesture I’d very much like to show you!”</p><p>“I can untie your hands.”</p><p>She turned to him. It was the first time he could see her clearly. Her hair was a bright orange, and it was cut short. A pixie cut, he believed it was called. She wore a green knitted hat on top of it. Her dress was a similar color to her hair, and she had a scarf, too. White with a floral pattern. But what stood out to him most of all were her eyes. Her vivid, emerald green eyes. Just like his…</p><p>“Can you?” Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts. She turned around then, allowing him access to her wrists. Her arms were covered with bruises, the kind that came from being held too tightly. “Please? They’ve been tied up for days.”</p><p>“Oh, yeah, here.” Tulio quickly got to work. Soon, the girl’s hands were freed, and she rubbed her wrists gently.</p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p>It was quiet for a moment.</p><p>“My name is Ginger,” she said suddenly. “Ginger Julia Fowler.”</p><p>“Tulio,” he said. “Tulio… and that’s it.”</p><p>“Are you telling me you don’t have a last name?” Ginger asked.</p><p>“Not anymore.”</p><p>Ginger smiled at him. “I don’t, either, technically. The last name is actually the director’s last name. It wasn’t supposed to be permanent.”</p><p>“The… director?”</p><p>“Of my orphanage.”</p><p>Ah. Suddenly the reasons they picked her up became clear. Young, healthy, pretty, and unlikely to be missed. Tulio nodded. “You’re an orphan, huh?” He sighed. “Me too.”</p><p>“I kind of guessed, Mr. No Last Name.”</p><p>“No need to be snarky, Miss Fowler.”</p><p>“Call me Ginger.”</p><p>“Only if you call me Tulio.”</p><p>The girl smiled. “Deal.” Then she looked out, and frowned. She pulled her knees to her chest. “Where are we?”</p><p>“Somewhere in Russia, I think. Near the ocean.” <em>That’s where they dump the “useless” ones.</em></p><p>“… Not exactly what I meant, but good to know…” Ginger said slowly. “What I mean is why are we here? What are they gonna do to us?”</p><p>“I don’t-”</p><p>“Don’t lie. Don’t tell me you don’t know. I’m fifteen. I can handle it.”</p><p>Fifteen. God, she was young. Not the youngest one here, but still so very young. Tulio sighed. “You really wanna know?”</p><p>“Yes. I do. Better the demon you know than the one you don’t.”</p><p>He sighed. “They’re whoring us out,” he said. “Selling our bodies. Are you a virgin?”</p><p>“… Yes?” She suddenly sounded so small, and so scared. Not that he blamed her.</p><p>“They’ve probably already sold your virginity to some creep. I give it three days. Four, tops.” He looked her over. “I wouldn’t worry too much, though. You’re young, healthy, and cute. They’ll keep you in good shape.” For now.</p><p>“Wouldn’t worr- you just said they already sold my virginity! I don’t care if it really counts as my ‘first time’ or not, you’re telling me I’m about to be raped and I should just sit here and <em>not worry</em>?!”</p><p>“Trust me, kid, it could be a lot worse.”</p><p>“<em>How</em>?!”</p><p>Tulio went quiet. He’d probably told her too much already. Best not to say another word. The girl turned away in a huff.</p><p>“Fine. Don’t tell me.”</p><p>“Trust me, kid, you’ll find out soon enough.”</p><p>“Ginger.”</p><p>He grinned. “You’re a fighter. I like you.”</p><p>
  <em>You have his eyes. I’ll look after you.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was only one day before they took her.</p><p>He still had no idea of the time, but both he and Ginger had at least one sleep session uninterrupted. That was when two large men came, and unchained her, and dragged her away. Tulio reached for her, but she shook her head. She still struggled, but her face was oddly calm and stoic. </p><p>When she came back, her lips were bruised, her eye was swelling, and her hair was ruined. She had a thick white substance on her leg. She trembled in pain. But while the two large men were there, she only glared angrily. She did not cry. Then they chained her, and left. Only then did she turn to him and openly sob, as he held her tightly to his chest and slowly rubbed her head.</p><p>“Shh, shh,” he tried to soothe. </p><p>“I tried,” she said brokenly. “I <i>tried</i> to fight him.”</p><p>“I know you did,” he said softly. <i>I still do.</i> “Is that how you got the black eye?”</p><p>“Actually, that came after… everything.” She looked over his shoulder at the guards. “It was one of them.”</p><p>“Oh, Ginger…” He said nothing more. He had nothing left to say. He simply held her until the tears ran dry and she went limp in his arms, exhausted. Their faces would blur, eventually, but she would always remember this one. She always would. And yet…</p><p>… yet, she had waited to cry.</p><p>
  <i>You have the same spark he does. I’ll protect it as long as I can.</i>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This time, he was the one who was dragged back by the men, bloodied and bruised and, unlike her, broken. He was the one who was chained back in place beside her. Neither of them spoke until the two men had left.</p><p>“Was it a man or a woman?” Ginger asked.</p><p>“Does it matter?” he asked, but it was only a moment before he sighed. “It was a man.”</p><p>“Are you okay?” Her eyes flashed downward briefly. “Anything… bleeding?”</p><p>He shook his head. “I’ve taken worse from my boyfriend.”</p><p>“You have a boyfriend?”</p><p>He looked at her. At her eyes. <em>His eyes.</em> “I do.” <em>God, I hope I still do.</em></p><p>“Do you… know where he is? Or where he could be?”</p><p>
  <em>A blond man reaches for him, tears run down his cheek. “Tulio! Tulio!” Stronger men pull both of them away from each other. “No, please, let us stay together! Tulio!”</em>
</p><p>“… No idea.” <em>Just let him be free, please.</em> “What about you? You got a boyfriend?” She shook her head. “What about a girlfriend? You a lesbian?”</p><p>She hesitated. “I have… someone, but I don’t know what to call her, exactly.” She squirmed slightly. “We were in the orphanage together. She was… curious, and so was I. It wasn’t sex, exactly, but it was close.”</p><p>“Do you know where she is?”</p><p>“At the orphanage, probably wondering where I am.” She looked out. “Her name is Mac.”</p><p>“His is Miguel.” <em>And you have his spirit.</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They were sleeping when they heard a loud, loud siren. Too loud. Too loud. Tulio was awake instantly, Ginger slightly slower. He knew what that siren meant.</p><p>“Tulio? What’s going on?”</p><p>She did not.</p><p>Without warning, Tulio held her close. Turned her face towards his chest. “Close your eyes,” he murmured.</p><p>“Tulio-”</p><p>“Close your eyes, Ginger. Don’t open them, not for a second, not until I tell you.” He looked down at her. She’d complied. He looked at a podium in the center of the warehouse.</p><p>He would look so she did not have to.</p><p>Everyone’s eyes turned towards the center podium. There were two other men; between them, a woman with greying hair. They’d seen her. They knew her name. Edwina. “No, no, please!” She wailed, she sobbed, she begged. “I’ll do anything! Anything!”</p><p>“Tulio…?”</p><p>“Keep. Them. Closed,” he whispered. “No matter what.” He stroked her hair. “Keep them closed…” <em>If only I could do the same for your ears.</em></p><p>“Please! I’ll do the kinks! I’ll do anything!” She was forced on her knees. “Please, God, no, I don’t want to die!”</p><p>Tulio kept his eyes firmly on the podium, but he could feel wet spots on his chest. This as he saw the gun. The bullets. And he held her tighter.</p><p>But he couldn’t stop her from hearing the gunshot.</p><p>He couldn’t stop the sound of the corpse hitting the floor and being dragged away.</p><p>He couldn’t stop the splash that seemed to echo.</p><p>But worst of all, he could not stop her tears. He simply rubbed her back.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a few more days before she asked the inevitable. </p><p>“Tulio? Is that going to happen to all of us?”</p><p>Tulio sighed. He didn’t have to ask what she meant. “Once we stop drawing in clients… yeah.”</p><p>Ginger was quiet for a moment. “Then we’ve got to get out of here.”</p><p>“You really think that?” Tulio looked at her. “It’ll probably get us killed, you know.”</p><p>“So what? What’s our alternative? Get raped for the rest of our lives while we wait around for <i>our</i> heads to go on the chopping block?!” She looked at him. “Do you want that to be your life? At least if we die escaping, we’ll have died trying!”</p><p>Tulio stared at her for a moment. Then Ginger stopped to think. “But… there are guards everywhere… and I suppose we wouldn’t have anywhere to go in Russia… it might be impossible-”</p><p>“Maybe not,” Tulio interrupted her. “We’re near the ocean, Ginger, remember? And if there’s a warehouse near the ocean, that usually means there’s a trading port. And if there’s a trading port…”</p><p>“… there’s a dock. And docks have boats!” Ginger’s eyes lit up. “And it can’t just be the big boats for transporting people like us, because if there was an emergency, the guards would be safer in international waters. So that means there have to be little dinghies floating around!”</p><p>“And if they’re for an emergency, then they have to come with supplies built in! Food. Water. Life jackets. Possible a flare or two. It could last us for weeks.” He grabbed onto her shoulders. “And there are usually towns somewhere along a coastline. If we sail along the coastline…”</p><p>“We can find a town. We can find help!” She smiled. “You do realize this is crazy, right?”</p><p>“Absolutely insane.”</p><p>“And we won’t be able to take everyone with us…”</p><p>“But we can alert the police to where they are.” Tulio looked her in the eyes. “You do realize… we only have one shot. We’ve got to time this perfectly. If we don’t, we’re dead. And we’ll be flying blind. No practice runs, no way to see if we’re right.”</p><p>Ginger nodded. Then she spit into her hand. “I’d do a blood oath, but there’s not really anything to cut with.”</p><p>Tulio chuckled. “Probably for the best.” He spit into his own hand, and then put his hand against hers. “We either die free, or we die trying.”</p><p>“Are those our only choices?” Ginger gave him a half smile, then nodded. “We’re gonna get out. Whatever it takes.” </p><p>He pulled her into another hug. “You’ll be free, Ginger. I promise.”</p><p>
  <i>You’ll get out of here. No matter what.</i>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ginger did not like this new boy.</p><p>At. All.</p><p>He was… annoying. She’d known that ever since she first met him. She’d been dragged back from… some client or another (it was hard to keep track), expecting to simply be chained next to Tulio as usual, only to find herself having a new neighbor. On her left was Tulio. But on her right…</p><p>“Hi, I’m Rocky.”</p><p>She took one glance over the boy. Young. Naive. Healthy. Too healthy. She gave him a week before he snapped. “Ginger.”</p><p>“Cool. So, dollface…”</p><p>“<em>Ginger</em>.”</p><p>“… right, dollface, you have any idea where we are right now?”</p><p>Ginger looked to Tulio, who shrugged. “Don’t look at me, he’s been like this since he got here.”</p><p>She looked to the new boy. “We’re in Russia. We think.”</p><p>“Russia. Cool. I’ve never been to Russia before.”</p><p>“Hate to break it to you, but I don’t think they brought you here to do any sightseeing.”</p><p>This “Rocky’s” expression did not falter in the slightest. “That’s where you’re wrong, babydoll - got to see <em>you</em>, now didn’t I?”</p><p>For a moment Ginger was struck dumb.</p><p>He couldn’t be serious.</p><p>“I… are… are you actually hitting on me?” A pause. “<em>Here</em>?”</p><p>“Where else, sweetheart?”</p><p>“Oh, I don’t know, maybe <em>anywhere other than here</em>!”</p><p>“What’ve you got against Russia?”</p><p>“It’s not Russia that’s the problem, it’s where we are in Russia!”</p><p>“… I don’t know a whole lot about Russia. What exactly is it about here in Russia?”</p><p>Ginger took in a breath, then sighed and shook her head. “Forget it,” she mumbled. She leaned in towards Tulio, whispering, “I don’t trust this new guy.”</p><p>“Don’t worry about him. He’s just dumb. Like really dumb,” Tulio assured her.</p><p>“What are you guys whispering about?”</p><p>“Nothing,” Ginger told him.</p><p>Rocky shrugged. “Okay.” He leaned in closer to Ginger. “So, tell me about yourself. Do you like it here?”</p><p>“…” Ginger decided that maybe simply ignoring him would be the best course of action. But no. He continued to bug her, hour after hour, until finally, he asked a question worth answering.</p><p>“Come on! What’s a guy gotta do to get a lovely woman such as yourself to talk to him?”</p><p>At this, she scowled, but then realized an opportunity. “Actually, you know what? I’ll talk to you if you do me a favor.”</p><p>“Anything, dollface.”</p><p>Dear God, she was gonna barf. Not that that was a hard thing to get her to do these days. “I need you to hit me in the stomach. As hard as you can.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“Because some perv got me pregnant, and Mr. Morals over here won't help me," Tulio flinched and opened his mouth but Ginger didn't give him a chance to speak, "and I really don’t want to have a kid in this hellhole.”</p><p>“… Seriously, what’s wrong with Russia?”</p><p>“Please tell me you’re joking.”</p><p>“No dice, honey bunches.”</p><p>“Do you have any idea where we are right now? Why they brought us here?”</p><p>“Like I said, I don’t know a lot about Ru-”</p><p>“She means, do you know what this place is?” Tulio gestured toward the rest of the warehouse. “Do you know what they want us to do?”</p><p>“… Same stuff as usual, I guess?”</p><p>Though Ginger and Tulio could not read each other’s minds, both of them knew exactly what the other was thinking. <em>Oh my God, this boy’s an idiot.</em> “Well, then, let me spell it out for you,” Ginger said, leaning towards him. “They are selling us. To perverts. For them. To rape. Us. Is there any part of that sentence that is unclear to you?”</p><p>“Yeah. What’s rape?”</p><p><em>What a sheltered snowflake.</em> “Do you know what sex is?”</p><p>“Of course I-”</p><p>“Rape is sex when you don’t want it.”</p><p>He stared at her blankly for a moment. “And… that’s <em>different</em> from normal sex?”</p><p>Something like silence then.</p><p>“... What?”</p><p>“Sex and, um, ‘rape’, there’s a difference? Are you sure?”</p><p>Ginger was at a complete loss for words. Tulio came to her rescue. “Hey, kid, weird question… when was the first time you had, um, sex?”</p><p>“Um… I don’t know. Three, I guess? It’s as far back as I can remember, anyway.”</p><p>“And how old do you think is a normal age to first have sex?”</p><p>“Three?”</p><p>“Uh, no. It’s… a bit older than that.”</p><p>“Five?”</p><p>Ginger felt like she might be sick. Beside her, Tulio didn’t look much better himself.</p><p>“I… no… No! That’s not... you can’t...”</p><p>And now even he was fumbling for what to say. This was just perfect.</p><p>“It’s seventeen.”</p><p>Both Tulio and Rocky looked at her.</p><p>“That’s the average age to first have sex. Seventeen. I didn’t even start doing… sex <em>stuff</em> until I was thirteen.”</p><p>“Huh. Weird,” Rocky said.</p><p>“How long have you been here?” Ginger asked softly.</p><p>Rocky looked at her oddly. “I told you, I’ve never been to Russia before.”</p><p>“No, I mean with this group. The warehouses. When did that start for you?”</p><p>“Um… I think I was thirteen?”</p><p>“But… but you said the first time you had sex-”</p><p>“Well, yeah, the <em>warehouses</em> and stuff started around then, but there was this other place before that.” He spoke like it should have been obvious. “They made movies. Kinda liked it better actually, they didn’t tie me up as much… but hey, it is what it is, am I right?”</p><p>Ginger and Tulio looked at each other then. “Um, hey, do you mind if we talk? For a bit? Privately?” Then she paused. “You do know what privacy is, right?”</p><p>“Yeah, it’s when you want to be alone.”</p><p>“Great. Perfect. We’d like that.”</p><p>“Okay.” Rocky looked away. At that point, Ginger leaned in to whisper.</p><p>“We’re taking him with us.”</p><p>Tulio’s face was grim, his lips a tight line of white flesh. He simply nodded.</p><p>“Agreed.”</p><p>Ginger looked over her shoulder at the stranger, his face still painted with that smile.</p><p>Her gut churned and clenched. That expression didn’t seem quite so idiotic anymore. Now it just made her feel sick.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>We have this part written already, but not the actual escape, so we're gonna go back and put that in later. Excuse the inconvenience!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was something strange about the boy in the embassy building, Agent Snow could see that from a mile away. </p><p>He just seemed too <i>happy.</i></p><p>Not happy in the way of their criminal consultant who had torn across the room in order to throw his arms around the shoulders of another man, and to plaster his face in kisses whilst the native Russians in the room looked on with such scandalized expressions it was almost comical. Nor was he happy in the way of the man embracing and kissing the blond right back. Theirs was a melancholy sort of joy, colored by grief and sweetened by horror. </p><p>This boy on the other hand looked like nothing was wrong at all. There was no fear. No nervousness. No… anything, beyond happy contentment. </p><p>“Alright, boys, we can take it from here,” ASAC Snow said, shooing the native Russians and other workers out of the room. “Go on. Shoo. Back to your nesting dolls or whatever it is you do in your spare time.”</p><p>“Erm, you know that could be taken the wrong way…”</p><p>“Yeah, well, I don’t care. Besides, we’ve got bigger things to worry about. Speaking of which…” He went over to the kissing men. “You do realize if you did that anywhere else in Russia, you’d be in jail right now?”</p><p>“I’d be in jail anyway,” Miguel laughed, before kissing his partner again. </p><p>“Yeah, well, break it up anyway. I’ve got questions to ask, and none of us are getting any younger here.”</p><p>Miguel pouted. “You’re no fun, Skipper.”</p><p>“They don’t pay me to be fun,” the man grumbled. “Now I can see that you’re the guy we’ve been looking for, who’s he?” ASAC Snow jabbed a finger in the boy’s direction.</p><p>“Rocky.” The teenager smiled and extended a hand. “Rhodes.”</p><p>Quiet then. Agent Snow felt strange, though he couldn’t say why exactly. Something about that name…</p><p>“You… you’re Rocky Rhodes?” ASAC Snow’s voice was just a little lacking in composure, enough to notice but not to dwell on. </p><p>“Um… yeah?” That smile again. That unfaltering smile, as bewildering as it was bewildered. “Why?”</p><p>“Well, we thought for sure you’d have been ki-”</p><p>“We didn’t think you’d be here,” Agent Kowalski interrupted, giving ASAC Snow a look. “Ahem. So. Mr. Rhodes. Care to explain what exactly you were doing with <i>him?”</i></p><p>Rocky blinked at the emphasis on the “him”, but was otherwise unaffected. “Oh, well, Tulio and Ginger told me we were leaving, so…”</p><p>“Wait, wait, wait.” Agent Kowalski looked at Loki's partner… no, wait, he’d used the name “Tulio”. So that was their second mystery dealer. “Who’s Ginger?”</p><p>Tulio frowned. Darkness clouded his eyes. “She was a friend who helped with the breakout. She… she didn’t quite… she’s still over there, as far as we know.”</p><p>The implications that hung in those words hung around the room like a choking black smoke. </p><p>“Do you know her full name?”</p><p>“Ginger Julia Fowler.”</p><p>That name wasn’t familiar, but it sounded pretty.</p><p>“Tulio thinks she’s dead,” Rhodes chimed in, as cheery as ever. “I don’t get why. They didn’t have any real reason to kill her, she was really pretty and stuff, and a lot of the guys there liked her. ‘Sides, she was pregnant. They don’t kill pregnant people.”</p><p><i>Liked her…?</i> Silence again. A long stretch of it, the quiet somehow colder and more jarring than any scream.</p><p>“What?” The boy looked from the dealer to the agents and back again. “What’d I say?”</p><p><i>Rhodes… Rocky Rhodes…</i> Where had he heard that name? Agent Snow frowned in thought. Trying to think. Trying to remember. Rocky Rhodes…Rocky Rhodes…Rocky-</p><p>
  <i>“…Rhodes’ videos have stopped being produced.” Kowalski’s voice rang through the small squad, looking at his computer. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>Skipper clicked his tongue. “I’m surprised that didn’t happen earlier. He’d be… what, twelve now? Maybe thirteen? He’d hit puberty a few years ago, I know that.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“So… what? Are we going to stop trying to figure out who he is?” Private asked. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Private, if a kid stops showing in a pedo ring’s videos, I think we all know what that means.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Everyone knew. No one said it.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Let’s just focus on this drug dealer case,” Skipper finally said. “Get our minds off this.”</i>
</p><p>The agent’s mouth went dry. So this was Rocky Rhodes, then. The Rocky Rhodes, if Kowalski and ASAC Snow’s reactions were anything to go by. Alive and free and apparently acquainted with their missing suspect. Well, they did say that there was a first time for everything…</p><p>“You’re alive?” Agent Snow blurted, before he could stop himself.</p><p>“Uh… yeah?” the boy replied cautiously, that uncanny smile of his still in place.</p><p>“But the videos… they-”</p><p>“Private!” Kowalski’s voice, sharp and clear. Ever reasonable, ever rational. </p><p>“Right.” Agent Snow took a deep breath.</p><p><i>Calm down, Percy, you have to stay calm.</i> He looked over at the boy. <i>If he can do this, then so can you. You’re a professional. You can do this.</i></p><p>“Mr. Rhodes-”</p><p>“Rocky, please.”</p><p>“… Right. Rocky, we’ll need to ask you a few questions, if that’s alright with you.”</p><p>“Fire away.”</p><p>Kowalski spoke next. “Well, first of all are you in need of any… medical assistance?”</p><p>“Don’t think so, wh-”</p><p>“Yes!” the man called Tulio said, quickly cutting the boy off. “That would be great.”</p><p>“But I feel fine!” Rocky protested. “It’s been way worse before, and nobody did anything.”</p><p>Agent Snow wished that came as a surprise.</p><p>“We might have diseases, kid…” The dealer grimaced. “You don’t know what those guys could have given you.”</p><p>“What kind of diseases? You mean like the flu?”</p><p>“No Rocky, not like the flu…” The man sounded tired. </p><p>Agent Snow really couldn’t blame him for that. It was going to be a long night…</p><p>Time passed slowly, minutes turning to hours as they waited for the ambulance to make its appearance.</p><p>“Hey, Agent?” Rocky asked, just as the sound of sirens began to draw near. “How come you guys know who I am anyway?”</p><p>Kowalski and ASAC Snow shared a look.</p><p>“Son,” the team’s leader began, “did you know you were being filmed?”</p><p>“Oh!” The boy’s grin went impossibly wide. “You saw my movies! That’s so cool! Are you fans?”</p><p>Tulio’s expression darkened, and beside him their informant looked on in concern. Agent Snow thought he heard “I’ll explain later,” mumbled into the other man’s ear.</p><p>A few feet away, Rocky Rhodes had not stopped talking. “Does this make me famous? How many other people have seen me?”</p><p>That was a million dollar question, if ever there was one, but it was one that nobody had the heart to answer.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time that Foghorn Leghorn had seen his son, he’d been in a hospital bed, held out by the arms of his mother. He had been small then. Small and fragile and pink, and he was perfect.</p><p>The last time he had seen his boy was on a boardwalk that had seemed safe until it wasn’t anymore. Junior had been three then and a little less pink, but still so small, still so fragile, and he was still perfect.</p><p>Now, here he was, about to see his son again after fourteen years of absence. In another hospital, looking down at another bed, looking down at that same boy. His boy. Junior would be almost grown now, stronger and taller than Foghorn could picture in his head. No longer so small, no longer so fragile, but he would be perfect, for in his father’s eyes he could never be anything less.</p><p>“JUNIOR!” he called, throwing the door open wide. “YOU’RE OKAY!”</p><p>“Uh… hi.” His son looked up at him with a smile, but not a hint of recognition. “Are you a fan?”</p><p>Well… that was a bit confusing. “Fan…?” He raised an eyebrow.</p><p>“Yeah I was in a lot of these movies a while back, didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but I guess a bunch of people saw them.”</p><p>“Movies?”</p><p>Something about this was very very wrong…</p><p>“Oh c’mon, you gotta know what movies are, right? I mean they made one about you, didn’t they? With the-”</p><p>“I remember. I know what movies are, but… I don’t think I’ve seen any of yours.”</p><p>Junior swallowed, a look of disappointment crossing his face. His hands twisted around the bedsheets. “Oh.”</p><p>Foghorn stepped closer, reaching out for his son. “Something wrong?”</p><p>“Where do you want me?” A long exhale that sounded tired above all else. “What do you want me to do?”</p><p>“What? I don’t want you to do anything, what would I want you to-”</p><p>“Mr. Leghorn,” a doctor (had she been there the whole time?) said, “may I speak to you for a moment?”</p><p>“What is it?”</p><p>“Outside.”</p><p>Foghorn caught the hint, but did not take it. “Do we have to?” He looked from her to Junior and back again with pleading eyes.</p><p>“I think it would be best if we did this privately.” Better for his son not to hear it.</p><p>“Alright…”</p><p>The hall smelled strongly of antiseptic, and closed around the man like a tomb. His gut felt heavy, as if it had been filled up with stones. “What, I say, <em>what</em> is it you wanted to tell me?”</p><p>The doctor - Jekyll, according to her nametag - sighed. “There’s no easy way to say this…”</p><p>Foghorn’s blood ran cold. “Is he dying?!”</p><p>“What? No.” The doctor shook his head. “Nothing like that. It’s… something else. About the people who took him.”</p><p>“Oh,” Foghorn said. Then he sighed. “Okay, lay it on me, doc. Slave labor? Illegal adoption?”</p><p>“Do… do you remember that case that ran in the news, a few months back? Pleasure Island?”</p><p>“Uh, the name rings a bell, wasn’t it that place that - what?!”</p><p>“It… it appears that they were the ones that abducted your son. That’s what we’ve heard from him, and… there is certain evidence to back up his claim. Once he got older I’m told he ‘aged out’ of their… preferred range, and was sent off to a different operation that wasn’t… quite so concerned with appearances. I’m so sorry.”</p><p>He sank down on a nearby chair with an audible thump and put his head in his hands. “My God, is that what he meant by movies?… Why did he sound so proud?”</p><p>“Mr. Leghorn, how old was your son when he was abducted?”</p><p>“Three.”</p><p>“Ah.” A slight gulp. “It… you see, because he was so young when he was taken, he seems to have grown up with little outside influence. All he’s ever known is what they taught him, so… so he doesn’t see anything wrong with what’s been done to him. He believes that the world is supposed to be this way.” Another breath. “Mr. Leghorn, you have to understand, he doesn’t know any better.”</p><p>“Okay. Okay, this is about as bad as it could be, but… we can work with this. We can show him it’s not meant to be that way. Right? I can help him get it.” Foghorn breathed deeply, his eyes taking on a rather desperate gleam. “I just gotta go back in there and talk to him, I say, I’ll talk to him, and I know it won’t be that easy but it’s a start. Okay.”</p><p>“Mr. Le-”</p><p>He climbed to his feet before Jekyll could finish, and began to push open the door to his son’s hospital room.</p><p>“Junior…?” he called out, his voice softer than it had been in years. “Can we talk?”</p><p>The boy on the bed perked up. “Hey! You’re back, Mr. … um, guy? Name’s Rocky, actually. I’m Rocky Rhodes, but I guess you can call me whatever. People do that sometimes.”</p><p>“Rocky? Rocky. Okay.” Foghorn nodded. A different name he could deal with, it was still his son. “And please don’t call me mister. Sorry I didn’t say so earlier, but I… I’m your dad.” Tears came to his eyes again. “I guess you don’t recognise me, but it’s true. They checked the blood tests and I have photos.” He sat in the chair next to the bed and offered his hands to be held. “I’ve missed you so much.”</p><p>A blank smile. “Cool! I… um, I didn’t know I had a dad, that’s pretty neat.” A pause. “So, about what I asked earlier… what did you want me to do? The doctors say I’ve gotta be careful so maybe we could just do mouth stuff today - I know you’ve probably been waiting a while, but they told me-”</p><p>Foghorn couldn’t listen to any more of this. “No, that’s not what… I’m not trying to… that’s not why I’m here! I’m your dad! Doesn’t that… isn’t that important to you? I don’t want to hurt you like that.” <em>Didn’t you miss me at all?</em></p><p>“Huh? But that’s the way that doesn’t hurt…”</p><p>Foghorn fled the room.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Look, when I’m in the middle of a scandal involving harm to kids, you paying a kid to open our potentially ticking mail doesn’t look good!” Bugs sighed. “Stop worrying so much. Almost everyone knows I didn’t do it and it’ll blow over after the trial…” The phone rang. “Hold that thought.”</p><p>“Well, <em>sorry</em> for trying to keep you in one <em>piece</em>,” Daffy said huffily. Bugs ignored him, rolling his eyes as he picked up the phone.</p><p>“Hel-”</p><p>“BUGS!!!!!” A loud, familiar Texas accent filled the phone. “You gotta get over here! This is amazing! This is incredible! The most wonderful thing to ever happen to me!”</p><p>The voice was so loud, <em>Daffy</em> winced. “What’s Foghorn so happy about?”</p><p>“Um… Foghorn? Where are you?”</p><p>“I’m at the hospital!” His voice was no less excited.</p><p>“What?! Why? Are you alright?” An accident? Maybe they’d doped him up…</p><p>“I’m fine! Better than I’ve been in a long time! You need to get over here, he’ll be, I say he’ll be dying to meet you!”</p><p>“Who?”</p><p>“Junior! My son, Bugs! He’s alive!”</p><p>“Foghorn… you don’t have a son.”</p><p>The voice on the other end was silent for a moment. Then: “Oh, right! I never told you. Remember when I first moved in from Texas?”</p><p>“How could I forget?” Bugs muttered.</p><p>“Well, about three years before that, I had a son. Foghorn Leghorn Jr.” Foghorn's voice went very, very quiet, then. It was unsettling. “He, um, he went missing a little before I moved up here.”</p><p>“Oh,” Bugs said. “Oh, Foghorn, I’m so sorry-”</p><p>“It’s alright. He’s alive now!” Foghorn’s voice went back to normal levels. “You’ve got to get over here! He’ll just love you! I know it! He’s a real, I say, a real chip off the old block!”</p><p>“Yay…” Bugs said slowly. “Alright, me and Daffy will be right over.”</p><p>“Great! I’ll see you soon!”</p><p>“See you. Go back to your son. We’ll be right there.”</p><p>The phones hung up.</p><p>“So…?” Daffy said.</p><p>“Foghorn has a teenager.”</p><p>Daffy went pale. “Lord help us all!”</p><p>When the two men arrived at the hospital the day was just as bright outside, and the sun beat down from overhead, but both struggled not to shiver when they saw their friend’s face. No longer beaming, no longer brimming with joy as it had been less than an hour before. Foghorn Leghorn now looked as if he were going to be sick right there on the pale green tiles of the hospital floor.</p><p>“Foghorn…?” Bugs called out softly, reaching to put a hand on the other man’s shoulder. “Are you… alright?”</p><p>His friend looked up at him with tears in his eyes.</p><p>“Junior…” The words came out sounding choked and watery. “… my boy.”</p><p>“Is something wrong?” Bugs asked gently.</p><p>“Does he have pneumonia or something?”</p><p>Bugs glared at him. Foghorn didn’t seem to have heard him.</p><p>“My boy, Bugs… my boy… this is all my fault. If I had just paid closer attention in that park, none of this would have happened. They wouldn’t have taken him. I’m a horrible father…”</p><p>“Whoa, whoa, Foghorn, slow down. Who’s ‘they’?”</p><p>“And why would they want your kid?” Daffy asked. “I mean, if he’s anything like you-”</p><p>“<em>Not</em>.<em> Now</em>.<em> Daffy</em>.”</p><p>“Whoa! Okay. Okay. No need to bite my head off.”</p><p>Bugs signed irritably, and turned back toward Foghorn with soft eyes, a softer tone on his lips. “Can you tell us what happened?” He asked, as gently as was possible with his heart pounding away in his chest. “Slowly, okay?”</p><p>The man’s mouth opened, but not a word was spoken. All that came out was a incomprensible squeak, something that sounded more machine than human being.</p><p>“Junior!” He sobbed, clutching Bugs by the shoulders. “They… they…”</p><p>“What is it, Foghorn?” <em>Don’t lose your head, Bugs, he needs you right now.</em> “It’s alright, you can tell me.”</p><p>“Mr. Bunny?”</p><p>Bugs looked up then. It was a woman - a doctor, if her white coat was anything to go by. “Yeah, that’s me. What’s up, doc?”</p><p>The doctor didn’t laugh. “My name is Doctor Jekyll. I’m Fogarty Leghorn Junior’s primary care physician. His father mentioned you’d be coming by, and seeing as he’s in no condition to tell you himself, I’d be more than happy to fill you in.” She looked at Foghorn. “If that’s alright with you?” Foghorn nodded.</p><p>“Fill me in? On what happened with Junior?”</p><p>The doctor nodded. “What Mr. Leghorn is trying to tell you is that his son…” She took in a deep breath. “… was abducted by a pedophile ring. Same one that was uncovered a few months ago, by sheer coincidence.”</p><p>“… What?” Daffy’s voice cut the silence like a knife.</p><p>For a moment Bugs had nothing to say (what could he say?). “I… that… that’s awful! Foghorn… Foghorn, I’m so...”</p><p>Wait… if that ring was broken up months ago, why was this only happening now?</p><p>“What… what else is there?” he asked, feeling like an awful person for wanting anything more than what he’d just heard. “There has to be… more, right?”</p><p>The doctor sighed. “It appears he was… transferred to another sex ring at the age of thirteen. He escaped - not by himself, granted, but he escaped.” She bit her lip. “But… from what we understand, the… films the original ring produced are still available online. There are… hundreds of them.” She paused. “And due to the fact that he was such a young age when he was abducted, he-”</p><p>“He thinks it’s <em>normal</em>,” Foghorn spoke up, angrier than Bugs had ever heard him. (Had Foghorn ever been angry before?) “All of it. Everything that happened to him. The movies, the… people, all of it.” He pulled away from Bugs. “First thing he asked me when I walked through that door was if I’d seen his work. Second was if I was there to… to… to…and when I told him I was his father, that wasn’t enough to convince him I wasn’t interested!”</p><p>“Oh… I’m so sorry.” Bugs said in a voice barely above a whisper. “He… how… how is he?”</p><p>
  <em>That was a thoroughly stupid question.</em>
</p><p>“If you’re referring to diseases, nothing fatal, thank God.”</p><p>“And how about…?” A vague gesture that didn’t really mean anything. “How’s he… feeling?” <em>Another stupid question.</em></p><p>The doctor said nothing. Neither did Foghorn.</p><p>“How’s he <em>feeling</em>?” Daffy spoke up. “Um, hello? Bugs? This kids been raped for, like… fourteen?… yeah, fourteen years straight. How is he feeling? He's probably curled up on his bed, shaking in fear, clutching to his teddy bear and crying for his Mommy. Right?” He looked at the doctor.</p><p>“Actually, no. He’s… calm, at the moment.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Well… that’s good, then, isn’t it?” Bugs asked slowly. “At least he’s-”</p><p>A voice rang out from the doorway. It was not particularly loud, or in any way unusual, but it still managed to silence every last one of those gathered in the hall.</p><p>“Um… Dad guy?” a boy called out. “I… I didn’t mean to freak you out or anything… are you okay?”</p><p>Foghorn pressed a hand over his mouth, a loud whimper escaping, even from between his tightly clenched fingers.</p><p>“Maybe you, um… Foghorn? I think you’d better go back to him.”</p><p>“I… I- Bugs, what… what am I supposed to say to him?”</p><p>“I don’t know.” Bugs said. “But he’s your son. And… nothing you say to him can be worse than what they said, right?”</p><p>The man’s eyes hardened. “… I reckon you’re probably right. C’mon, I told him you two were coming, you may as well meet him.”</p><p>The door swung open.</p><p>The boy in the hospital bed was smiling. Somehow, that only served to make the situation worse.</p><p>“He… he looks just like you,” Daffy muttered.</p><p>And he did. The boy had the same red hair as the man, the same brown eyes, same jawline and similar nose, and his smile was an uncanny replica of the one Bugs expected he would not see Foghorn wearing for quite some time.</p><p>“Are… are you okay?” Junior asked slowly, looking at his father with mild concern. “You kinda took off on me there.”</p><p>“Your dad’s worried about you,” Bugs said, when Foghorn couldn’t speak. “I mean, it’s great that you’re back, but the circumstances are a little weird.”</p><p>“Huh- hey, you’re Bugs Bunny! Oh my gosh, I’m a big fan. They showed us a bunch of your movies back when I was a kid, on the island… Only the ones where everyone stayed dressed, though, what was with that?”</p><p>“Uh, I… didn’t… make the other kind.”</p><p>“And I know you too!” Rocky said to Daffy. “Weren’t you in that movie with my dad?”</p><p>“Yeah. Long story.”</p><p>Bugs squinted at Rocky. “You know, you look really familiar, but… oh my fucking God! That little redheaded kid in the…” He sat down heavily on the edge of the bed.</p><p>“Oh, have you seen some of my movies too? You a fan? That’s gr- hey what’s wrong?”</p><p>
  <em>That smile…</em>
</p><p>“Uh, I saw a little bit. Not much.” Bugs had seen a little bit before hastily unplugging the computer and calling the cops to pick up the knocked-out reporter who had been downloading all manner of horrors onto it. At least his friends knew that. Right now, he was desperately debating how to handle this without offending the kid or requiring a long explanation. Maybe if he referred to the worksafe close-up face shots of kids that had been listed as missing on the news. The kids who hadn’t been found at the bottom of the bay. “They showed shots of you on TV. You were very… cute.”</p><p>“I was on TV?” the boy said, and flashed Bugs a wide grin. “Wow, I am famous!”</p><p>Daffy and Foghorn glanced at one another, for once at a loss for words.</p><p>“Uh… so, Junior…” Bugs wasn’t exactly sure what he meant to say, but he felt as if someone should say something.</p><p>Anything to fill the silence for a little longer.</p><p>“Rocky! It’s Rocky actually, Rocky Rhodes. ‘S what they called me on the island anyway, after I left people mostly just called me a bunch of numbers...” He frowned for a moment, but it seemed more thoughtful than unhappy. “But I don’t really remember what those numbers were, never been good at math. So, I like Rocky better.”</p><p>“That… that’s good. People should have names rather than numbers.” It’s a small thing, but it’s a start.</p><p>Rocky prattled on. “And, like, people know this name. It’s kinda weird actually, back on the island it wasn’t ever a big deal that I was in those movies-”</p><p>‘-<em>movies</em>-’</p><p>“-and when I was with those other guys, people didn’t really freak out over me either, but ever since Tulio and I got out everyone knows who I am. Guess I must’ve been popular with cops or something.”</p><p>Foghorn was trying to hide it, but Bugs could have sworn he saw murder in the man’s eyes. Not that he blamed him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sergeant Calhoun knew she was probably the best person for the job, but she wasn’t really sure where to start. Her own kids had at least had some inkling that something was wrong by the time she’d gotten to them. Rocky had growing up so far away from normal society; he hadn’t been told to keep it secret because there was no one to tell, and his ability to process others’ reactions was messed up by his isolation. But someone, somehow, would have to answer the question he’d been repeatedly asking.</p><p>“Why does everyone keep getting mad and crying when I’m around? Did I do something?”</p><p>“No, no, it’s not that. You’re not in any trouble,” she said, being sure to maintain eye contact. “It’s because of what happened to you. That’s why you’re here.” She gestured around the interview room. “We need to know if you can tell us the names and descriptions of any of the people who hurt you.”</p><p>“Uh, do you mean like <em>hurt</em>-hurt, or are you trying to not say sex? Whenever I mention sex people get weird. But that didn’t hurt all the time.”</p><p>Calhoun sighed. “Yes, Rocky, I mean sex.”</p><p>“Well, I can remember a few of them, but there were a lot, and a lot of them weren’t speaking in English. I can try, though. But why?”</p><p>Calhoun thought carefully about how to answer that question. “Because… we’re pretty sure those people did something to break the law. And people who break the law need to be arrested.”</p><p>“What, really? Oh, that’s awful. I’ll do my best!” Rocky looked heartbreakingly earnest. “What did they do?”</p><p><em>Someone has to tell him.</em> “Well… we know you know about sex. How much do you know about what people <em>think</em> about sex?”</p><p>“Uh… Ginger said that you’re supposed to be seventeen. Tulio didn’t say when you’re supposed to have it, but he said you have to be older than five. I tried to ask Dad, but…”</p><p>“Well, it’s not so much that you’re not supposed to have sex when you’re that young, it’s that adults are not supposed to have sex with children that young.” Calhoun steepled her fingers and looked over them at him. “That’s why you and all those other children were kept on that island. The adults involved were trying to keep you out of the way of law enforcement so we couldn’t stop them. Outside the island, having sex with children is widely considered to be about the worst possible thing an adult can do.”</p><p>“Weird… but… but I got off the island and people were still okay with it. They let me leave and everyone was just fine with it. I had sex with old people all the time. What’s up with that? And like it wasn’t even that bad. I liked the island… the other places weren’t as fun, but I didn’t really mind that much. What’s so bad about having sex with kids that you guys need to lock them up over it?”</p><p>“Did you want to have sex with any of them?”</p><p>“Sure!”</p><p>“Let me rephrase that. Would you have wanted to have sex with them, if you weren’t getting anything else out of it?”</p><p>“I dunno… not really, but I didn’t like brushing my teeth either when I was a kid, and no one cares that people made me do that.”</p><p>“Did brushing your teeth regularly leave you in pain or feeling unwell?” When he half-shrugged, she continued. “See, brushing your teeth is a necessary hygiene procedure to stop you losing your teeth or getting mouth infections. No one will become sick from not having sex, but you could have become sick or hurt from what they did, and as a child, you wouldn’t have really understood that, especially since I doubt they told you.”</p><p>“Is this why Tulio was talking about weird diseases we might have?”</p><p>She nodded. “Yes. Adults can catch them too, but adults generally know they’re a risk and can try to prevent it. Do you know what condoms are? Did anyone use them? Yes, that would have been so they didn’t catch anything from you.”</p><p>“… But wait, what does this matter now? Didn’t you already catch the island guys? I was only a little kid there, why does it matter what happened after I left? I’m seventeen now, that’s old enough, right? So what does it matter who I had sex with?”</p><p>“It’s not just a case of being old enough. That’s a big part of it, yes, but the reason adults shouldn’t have sex with children is because children can’t give what we call informed consent, and you still couldn’t afterwards.”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>“Informed consent means you know what it is you’re doing and agree to do it. Like, let me think of an example… I heard they had good food on the island. What was your favourite? Pizza? Cookies? What? And they’d let you eat a lot of it, yes? Well, did you ever eat enough that you got really sick? And did you do that more than once?”</p><p>“Yeah, all of us did.”</p><p>“Well, after the first time, you would be <em>informed</em> that eating too much made you sick, and with that knowledge you could decide whether you wanted to eat that much again. You knew enough about it to decide whether you were okay with facing the possible consequences, and you enjoyed doing it enough that you thought it was worth the risk. Is this helping you understand? Well, with sex, adults are supposed to learn before they have it what the possible consequences are, and no one ever explained them to you, even in the times when you were okay with it. And then, what about all the times when you weren’t okay with it? When it hurt, or it made you feel bad?”</p><p>“It… I mean, sure, it kinda sucked, but it wasn’t that bad. You’re making it sound like something horrible, everyone acts like it was, but it was okay. I was always fine afterwards, and it happened to everyone, that was just the way it was. Nothing wrong with that.”</p><p>“What if I told you that, off the island, it doesn’t happen to most kids? How do you feel about that?”</p><p>“Good for them, I guess? But… I dunno if I believe that. Those warehouses weren’t on the island and there were a lot of kids there.”</p><p>“Do you know how many people were on the island? Or how many people were in those warehouses? It must have been quite a lot.”</p><p>“I ‘unno. About forty kids on the island at a time, maybe less? Harder to count in the warehouses.”</p><p>“How many people do you think there are in America, or in the whole world?”</p><p>“Well, Ginger says seven billion.”</p><p>“Do you know how many that is? It’s more than if you had a full warehouse for every single person you’ve ever seen in there. And most of them haven’t had to deal with anything like what happened to you. In fact, the idea that it even could happen is very scary to a lot of them. That’s why they get so upset.”</p><p>“I don’t understand. It’s not scary. Not that scary anyway… and you didn’t know about the island until like a few months ago, right? And you don’t even know how many people are in the warehouses, maybe it happens more than you think it does?”</p><p>“Quite probably, but that’s what we’re trying to prevent. Look, let’s imagine for a moment that it really doesn’t happen often. Imagine that there are lots of kids in the world who never have to have sex just to get their basic needs met. They don’t have to do it and they get food and clothes and beds and baths anyway, they don’t have to bargain for anything. Do you think that sounds good or bad? How do you think the kids who don’t have to do it feel?”</p><p>“Nice… I guess?” The statement was phrased like a question, and he looked up as if for approval.</p><p>“Yes, and the adults who look after them feel good that the kids feel good. The people who had sex with you wanted to make themselves feel good but didn’t care about how you felt - I mean, it might have felt physically good sometimes, but did that make you feel any better about it?”</p><p>“I… I don’t really think about that.” He shuffled his feet. “I guess not?”</p><p>Calhoun looked at him with the gentlest expression she could. “I guess this is more a therapist’s job than mine, but yeah, people are upset because they don’t like the idea of adults making children feel bad for fun.” It was about the best way to put it she could think of. “Or anyone else, for that matter. Sex is supposed to be between people who want to do it, to make both of them feel good, and if someone doesn’t want to do it, then good people don’t make them do it. With good people, you can always say no.”</p><p>Rocky blinked, then looked at his hands. For the first time since they began speaking, he looked uncomfortable. “Do people actually <em>want </em>to do it? I mean, I wasn’t supposed to say anything, but… I always thought it was kinda gross.”</p><p>“It’s hard to explain, you know it when you feel it… or you might not. Not everyone does, but I think you’ll have to work out a lot of issues about it before you can tell for sure whether or not you enjoy it. That’s probably a conversation you should have with your dad… or should have had with him. Now, a therapist might be better.” She picked up the notebook. “I think it’s going to take a lot more than one conversation for you to really get it, but now that you know why, shall we get down to names and descriptions? Anything you can tell us would help.”</p><p>She hoped what she’d said would help him in turn.</p>
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